Originals

As designers, we're constantly told to be "innovative" and "think outside the box," but what does that actually look like in practice? This book cuts through the creative mythology and shows you what really separates breakthrough design work from safe, forgettable solutions. Grant's research reveals why your best design concepts often get killed by managers who have no business evaluating creative work, and more importantly, how to navigate around that. You'll discover why the most successful design leaders aren't the ones taking wild creative risks, but the ones who strategically manage risk while fostering environments where bold ideas can actually survive. The insights on procrastination as a creativity tool and the destructive nature of ambivalent relationships will completely change how you approach design critique and team dynamics. Whether you're trying to push through a radical redesign or build a culture where designers feel safe to experiment, this book gives you the psychological frameworks to make it happen. It's not a design book, but it should be required reading for anyone leading creative work.

👉🏻 Key Takeaways

• Stop romanticizing risk-taking; the best originals are actually strategic and careful about protecting their downside.
• Creativity is a numbers game (Edison had over 1,000 patents, most were garbage).
• Managers are terrible at evaluating what's "good"; the best decision makers are practitioners with peers.
• There are two types of innovators: conceptual (peak early, think outside the box) and experimental (peak later, learn by doing).
• Your procrastination habit might actually be a creativity superpower.
• People who don't use the default browser are more innovative at work (seriously, there's research on this).
• Ambivalent relationships are toxic to creativity and more destructive than purely negative ones.
• Originals feel just as scared and doubtful as you do, they just act anyway.
• Surround yourself with people who disagree with you, not cheerleaders.
• Keep your day job while you build your side project (successful entrepreneurs do this).
• Actions for impact: triple your idea generation, immerse yourself in new domains, procrastinate strategically.

💬 Favorite Quotes

"The greatest originals are the ones who fail the most, because they're the ones who try the most. You need a lot of bad ideas in order to get a few good ones."

"Argue like you're right and listen like you're wrong."

"To become original, you have to try something new, which means accepting some measure of risk."

"Being original doesn't require being first. It just means being different and better."

"Procrastination may be the enemy of productivity, but it can be a resource for creativity."

"Ultimately, the people who choose to champion originality are the ones who propel us forward. They feel the same fear, the same doubt, as the rest of us. What sets them apart is that they take action anyway."